[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 896 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 896
Condemning the Burmese military for perpetrating gross violations of
human rights as part of its brutal campaign to suppress the democratic
aspirations of the people of Burma, a year after the coup d'etat on
February 1, 2021.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 1, 2022
Ms. Eshoo (for herself, Mr. Levin of Michigan, Mr. Chabot, Ms. Tenney,
Mr. Meeks, Mr. Bera, Mr. Suozzi, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Khanna, Mr.
Lowenthal, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Rice of South Carolina, Ms.
Schakowsky, Mrs. Napolitano, Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Meng, Mr.
McGovern, Mr. Price of North Carolina, Ms. Manning, Ms. Titus, Mr.
Meijer, and Mr. Jackson) submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the
Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as
fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Condemning the Burmese military for perpetrating gross violations of
human rights as part of its brutal campaign to suppress the democratic
aspirations of the people of Burma, a year after the coup d'etat on
February 1, 2021.
Whereas after a decade of promising democratic reforms in Burma, the Burmese
military (hereinafter referred to as the ``Tatmadaw'') launched a coup
against the civilian government on February 1, 2021, preventing a
democratically elected Parliament from being seated;
Whereas the Tatmadaw seized control of the Government, declared a national state
of emergency, and unlawfully detained many democratically elected
officials, including State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win
Myint, and dozens of Members of Parliament affiliated with the National
League for Democracy (NLD);
Whereas Burma's elections in November 2020 resulted in the NLD securing enough
seats in Parliament to form the next government, notwithstanding the
disenfranchisement of more than 1,500,000 voters, mostly from ethnic
minority communities in the Kachin, Karen, Mon, Rakhine, Shan, and Chin
states;
Whereas, on February 1, 2021, President Biden issued a statement condemning the
coup as a ``direct assault on [Burma's] transition to democracy and the
rule of law'' and called on the international community to come together
to press the Tatmadaw to relinquish power;
Whereas the House of Representatives adopted H. Res. 134 on March 19, 2021,
condemning the coup and calling for the restoration of civilian
government and the release of detained officials;
Whereas the people of Burma, insistent that their country continue along the
path toward democracy, courageously organized a civil disobedience
movement and took to the streets to demand that the Tatmadaw relinquish
power;
Whereas, on April 16, 2021, democratically elected Members of Parliament, who
had been denied the opportunity to serve by the Tatmadaw, formed a
National Unity Government that asserts it is the legitimate Government
of Burma;
Whereas the Tatmadaw has used lethal force, including extrajudicial executions,
to violently suppress the prodemocracy movement, killing more than 1,400
unarmed people since the coup began last year;
Whereas the Tatmadaw has relied heavily on mass arrests to stifle dissent and
has detained more than 10,700 protesters, activists, and journalists
since February 2021;
Whereas the Tatmadaw has used brutal and inhumane methods to intimidate,
degrade, and torture detainees;
Whereas Tatmadaw soldiers have perpetrated rape and other forms of sexual
violence with impunity;
Whereas the Tatmadaw has employed digital authoritarian tools and tactics to
silence opposition, including internet shutdowns, online censorship, and
high-tech surveillance;
Whereas the Tatmadaw has eroded the independence of the Burmese judiciary and
conducted sham trials to convict political prisoners including State
Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint;
Whereas the Tatmadaw continues to perpetrate a horrific ethnic cleansing
campaign against the Rohingya Muslim population in Burma's Rakhine State
and has also committed atrocities against other ethnic minority
communities in the Kachin, Karen, Mon, Rakhine, Shan, and Chin States,
that the United Nations Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar
has indicated amount to crimes against humanity;
Whereas the House of Representatives adopted H. Res. 1091 on December 13, 2018,
expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the atrocities
committed against the Rohingya by the Tatmadaw constitute genocide;
Whereas the turmoil caused by the coup and the Tatmadaw's violence and
mismanagement of the economy have resulted in a severe humanitarian
crisis that, according to a recent United Nations report, is projected
to drive nearly half the Burmese population into poverty this year;
Whereas the deteriorating security situation in Burma following the coup has
resulted in the internal displacement of nearly 300,000 people and
prompted thousands more to flee the country as refugees;
Whereas the Biden administration has frozen more than $1,000,000,000 in Burmese
Government funds held in the United States and coordinated with the
European Union, Canada, and the United Kingdom to impose targeted
sanctions against individuals and entities responsible for the coup,
including Min Aung Hlaing, the commander in chief of the Tatmadaw;
Whereas numerous civil society and human rights groups have recommended
additional sanctions targeting the largest sources of the Tatmadaw's
foreign currency revenue such as the state-controlled natural gas,
mining, and timber entities, including the highly lucrative Myanmar Oil
and Gas Enterprise; and
Whereas the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, which was
established by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate
the Tatmadaw's crimes against humanity and compile evidence for future
prosecutions, is crucial to ensuring accountability for atrocities and
bringing justice to the people of Burma: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the military
coup that took place in Burma on February 1, 2021;
(2) denounces the Tatmadaw for perpetrating gross
violations of human rights as part of its brutal campaign to
suppress the democratic aspirations of the people of Burma;
(3) stands in solidarity with the courageous people of
Burma as they struggle to wrest political power from the hands
of their authoritarian military;
(4) calls on the Tatmadaw to--
(A) cease all violence against prodemocracy
activists and reach a cease-fire with ethnic armed
organizations;
(B) release all political prisoners;
(C) engage in constructive dialogue with all
parties to negotiate a pathway toward a government that
reflects the will of the Burmese people;
(D) grant humanitarian actors unhindered access to
all relevant areas of Burma to help alleviate the
immense suffering that has resulted from this past
year's violence and the COVID-19 pandemic; and
(E) respect the human rights and civil liberties of
all people of Burma, including ethnic minorities who
currently face state-sponsored persecution; and
(5) calls on the President, and the relevant Federal
agencies, to take immediate action to--
(A) work with international partners and
multilateral institutions, including the United Nations
Security Council, to enact new targeted sanctions on
individuals and entities affiliated with the Tatmadaw,
including an international arms embargo and a
prohibition on the sale of aviation fuel to the Burmese
military;
(B) coordinate with like-minded partners and allies
to restrict the Tatmadaw's ability to finance its
military operations by imposing new sanctions on
Tatmadaw-linked individuals as well as Tatmadaw-
controlled entities, including state-owned enterprises;
(C) issue public warnings to businesses and
individuals outlining the legal liability of doing
business with the Tatmadaw, including potential
liability associated with the Tatmadaw's crimes against
humanity;
(D) enhance enforcement of existing sanctions
prohibiting the importation of precious and
semiprecious gemstones, jade, and amber from Burma to
the United States;
(E) provide robust humanitarian assistance in
Burma, Bangladesh, Thailand, and the surrounding region
and ensure that targeted sanctions allow all necessary
exemptions to permit the delivery of humanitarian
assistance to civilians in need;
(F) ensure that United States-based social media
companies, including Facebook, not allow their
platforms to be used as vehicles for disinformation
campaigns or advocating violence against the Burmese
people;
(G) make a genocide determination with regards to
the persecution of the Rohingya;
(H) direct the United States Permanent
Representative to the United Nations to use the voice,
vote, and influence of the United States to bring about
greater international cooperation to pursue justice and
accountability in Burma; and
(I) support inclusive international accountability
efforts, including the Independent Investigative
Mechanism for Myanmar, with a particular emphasis on
Burma's civil society organizations, to investigate and
hold perpetrators of atrocities accountable.
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